Have you ever watched someone else die in your place? Have you ever stood by and watched another man die a slow, agonizing death, knowing all the while that you were supposed to be the one suffering and dying, not him?

I have. It happened many years ago when I was a prisoner of the Romans in Jerusalem. I was scheduled to die by crucifixion, but at the last minute, they set me free and executed another man in my place. That man Ôs name was Jesus, the One you call Christ.

I have to be specific about what this other man is called because my name is also Jesus -- Jesus Barabbas.1 Of course, this coincidence became supremely ironic on that first Good Friday in Jerusalem, because there was that bloodthirsty snake, Pontius Pilate, presenting two men to the crowd, saying one would live and one would die ‚ and what was he doing but presenting two Jesuses who were as...

This Fifth Sunday in Lent sermon, Barabbas Speaks, is based on Matthew 27:15-26 and relates to Fifth Sunday in Lent of Cycle of the lectionary. This sermon is excerpted from the book The Glory Of Our Weakness . SermonSuite offers online sermons and professionally published sermons, lectionary sermons, non-lectionary sermons, children's sermons, sermon illustrations, worship resources, preaching resources, sermons on prayer, prayers, Christian drama, lectionary worship, lectionary workbooks and homilies. ...

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